Ancient Greece

An interview with Rachel Kousser, author of The Afterlives of Greek Sculpture: Interaction, Transformation, and Destruction

by

Rachel, thank you for taking the time to talk to us about your book, The Afterlives of Greek Sculpture: Interaction, Transformation, and Destruction. The ‘afterlives’ in the title of your book are mainly the things that were done to statues to harm or desecrate them, but you give us a wonderful picture of what statues … Read more

Rachel Kousser

An excerpt from The Afterlives of Greek Sculpture: Interaction, Transformation, and Destruction by Rachel Kousser

by

In the five centuries between the Persian wars and the death of Cleopatra, the Greeks not only created some of the ancient world’s best known monumental sculptures, but also gave them complex and at times contentious afterlives. As visual and written sources attest, the Greeks washed, perfumed, and polished statues; they poured libations upon them … Read more

An interview with Matthew Simonton, author of Classical Greek Oligarchy: a Political History

by

Matt, thank you for taking the time to talk to us about your book, Classical Greek Oligarchy: a Political History, which has a wide frame of reference. You not only cite a very wide range of ancient authors and sources, you also bring in modern political theorists and examples from modern political situations to support your analysis. But then you seem to have studied several different disciplines at university; not just classics and ancient history but modern politics and political theory, and theatre too. Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you made these choices? Do you think perhaps the American university system gives more freedom to cross boundaries between academic disciplines than a British university would normally do?

I’ve always been interested in the “big picture” concerning politics and society. As an undergraduate, despite being a Classics major, I think it’s fair to say I was obsessed with political philosophy and political theory, and read them every chance I got.

Read more

Matthew Simonton

An excerpt from Matthew Simonton’s entry, Classical Greek Oligarchy: a Political History

by

At least since the time of the poet Pindar in the mid-fifth century BCE, the ancient Greeks understood that  regimes could be classed according to rule by the one, the few, or the many. Twenty-five centuries later, if one were to press Classical historians on how much attention they have paid to each type, they might respond, with some sheepishness, that two out of three ain’t bad.

Read more

An interview with Peter Rhodes and Robin Osborne, authors of Greek Historical Inscriptions, 478-404 BC

by

Professor Rhodes, Professor Osborne, thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions about your book, Greek Historical Inscriptions 478-404 BC. This is not your first collaboration; the companion volume, Greek Historical Inscriptions 404-323 BC, was published ten years ago. How did you approach writing these two books? Do you work separately on … Read more